


Slowly

by FreeDesertWind



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Stablehand!Kristoff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21628540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeDesertWind/pseuds/FreeDesertWind
Summary: AU where all of the events of Frozen/Frozen II happened but without Kristoff's help. This is a story of how he and Anna still find each other.Queen Anna needs an escape from her royal duties. She finds it in rides through the mountains escorted by a palace stable hand. A secret friendship builds into a relationship they can only accept slowly.
Relationships: Anna & Kristoff (Disney), Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 135





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Omg, my first work. Here we go.

Gravel crunched beneath Anna’s feet as she marched down the garden path. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her face was a contortion of worry. “Oh no, oh no, oh no…” she whispered to herself, head shaking, “I can’t believe I did that...”

She was going to be in so much trouble when Elsa found out. Anna was supposed to be ruling Arendelle, taking over her duties. Doing everything just as if Elsa were still queen, it’s what was best for Arendelle.

The young queen paused to briefly turn back to the palace. Nobody was following her. Good.

“Okay,” she continued to whisper, “Maybe it’s not such a big deal. I am queen. I can do what I want.” Anna knew this wasn’t really true. She was the queen of Arendelle, that part was correct, but doing what she wanted?

Anna looked up beyond to garden walls toward the North Mountain. 

No. She couldn’t do what she wanted.

It was supposed to be simple. She was just supposed to be planning a party. A party for foreign dignitaries to come and extol the attributes of some young prince or duke to marry. Anna hadn’t been excited about that part, but it might have been fun to decide decorations or desserts. Instead it was a seating chart. Every seat was a political move and every person represented a political history and every suggestion Anna made to simplify _(What was wrong with just letting everyone pick a spot?)_ was met with derision by the party planning assistant. _Did Elsa really have to deal with all this? How did she do it?_

Even worse than the meeting there were interruptions. Anna had gotten used to most of them, they were usually just reminders of lessons she was missing or letters labeled as URGENT which were almost never important. This time the interruption was something different. A robin had flown by the window. It was the first robin Anna had seen all spring. She had been pleased to have spotted him at first, but her heart sank when she realized it was June. Snow had been melted everywhere for months, and Anna had only just now seen her first bird.

That’s when Anna did it. She simply stood up and walked out the many castle hallways and doors to the outside. Not a word of goodbye.

_That’s not so bad, right?_

Queen Anna sighed to herself. Elsa had made everything look so easy. She still made everything sound easy when she sent reminders and instructions from afar. 

_Well, she’s not here now, is she?_ Anna continued her march through the gardens with no set goal until she rounded a bend and again spotted the peaceful green mountains which called to her. 

A slight nod to herself, and Anna spun on one boot, headed down to the stables.

\---

“Her Royal Majesty, Queen Anna, approaches!” shouted a groom.

Commotion erupted within the old wooden walls walls as all occupants jumped to attention. Men grabbed empty buckets off the walls and pantomimed pouring water into already full troughs. Stable hands grabbed brushes and started to hastily groom horses skittish in the unexpected din. 

Kristoff had been playing absently on his lute in Sven's stall, but peered his head out to see the ruckus. A fellow stable hand paused from pointlessly sweeping dirt back and forth long enough to throw a dry, dirty rag at him. “Wipe something!” he shouted.

Kristoff glanced past Jonas to the massive doors at the head of the barn. A beautiful and fiery young woman was excitedly discussing something with the stable master. 

_So that's what royalty looks like._

His stomach dropped when she turned her head and caught his eye. She was a smile.

“Don't stare too long,” Jonas advised as he swept, “or Karl will probably assign to you whatever extra work Her Majesty is likely requesting of him.”

Kristoff grunted in reply and tried to look down but it was too late, Karl saw Kristoff a moment later and motioned for him to cross the barn toward them. 

Kristoff was about to be standing in the vicinity of, listening to the commands of, and fulfilling the wishes of a _queen_. His mottled past certainly hadn’t prepared him for this.

“Yes, Karl?” Kristoff gulped upon his arrival.

“You used to be an ice harvester, right boy?” 

Kristoff nodded, he had been an ice harvester, before Queen Elsa had single handedly removed all demand for his services. Now he cast a quick surveying glance at Her Royal Majesty, Queen Anna of Arendelle beside him. Her arms were crossed over her elegant silken gown and her bright eyes were narrowed in burning indignation. What surprised Kristoff most, however, was just how _young_ she seemed. 

“Right,” Karl continued, “Her Majesty here needs an escort in the mountains. She wants to go riding but we can't let her out alone. Kristoff, I need you to just go with her and make sure she doesn't get lost.”

Kristoff nodded, but the young queen protested, “I already told you that I don't need an escort and I don't need a guide. I just need Kjekk readied within the hour so that I may ride him.” 

Kristoff, who had worked with burly bragging ice harvesters for most of his life and now the boastful stablemen, knew when someone was putting on airs of confidence for their audience. This queen was certainly angry, and certainly loud, especially considering her frame, but perhaps not fully confident in her command. Poor thing.

“Your Majesty, I'm operating under orders of the royal guard,” Karl said, “You're free to ride out but not alone. I can either give you Kristoff or an entire retinue.”

Kristoff felt the queen’s searing eyes on him, sizing him up. He stood as straight as he could and tried to offer a confident nod. His heart raced despite himself. A _queen_.

“You'll do,” she surmised after a moment's scrutiny, “Prepare a ride for yourself as well.”

Her petticoats swirled angrily as she spun to leave and to change into her riding habit.

“What am I supposed to do?” Kristoff asked Karl as they watched her retreat.

“Stay close to her. Do what she wants but don't let her get into any trouble. Don't let her get lost. Don't come back after dark.”

Kristoff nodded seriously, hoping to hide how nervous he suddenly felt, “Okay, but what's she going to want?”

“Hell if I know. Castle doors have been closed most of the time I’ve worked here. I just met her same as you did.”

\---

“That's your horse?” The queen’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead as she watched Kristoff lead Sven to the mounting block.

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, he's a reindeer, not a horse.”

For a moment, the young queen paused, taking in what he had said. Kristoff braced himself for a scolding or even a request for a more suitable escort, but he was surprised to see a smile as it crossed her lips. Her Majesty laughed softly to herself.

Kristoff liked that.

\---

They rode silently at first.

Queen Anna sat stiff in her saddle, with her back straight, eyes forward, and firm hands gripping the reins. She could hear the heavy plodding of her escort's reindeer behind her almost as clearly as she could feel the prying eyes of castle servants and guests watching her walk her horse toward the forest. Soon though, she would be alone.

Well, mostly.

\---

Kristoff watched as Her Majesty’s shoulders immediately relaxed the moment they entered the forest. A sigh waterfalled through her body like a secret when the dappled shade touched her skin. He gulped at the strange and sudden intimacy of the moment, realizing that he was now completely alone with the queen of Arendelle.

He felt like an intruder following her. In his years harvesting ice in the mountains he had learned the pleasure of being alone. Sometimes he felt the call of the mountains pulling him. He wondered if the queen did too.

\---

The unlikely pair were less than a mile up a gently sloping trail when Her Majesty abruptly turned and announced, “You know, I don't need an escort.” Her voice was proud.

“Huh,” Kristoff grunted, “Sure you don't.” He was about to follow his sarcasm by rolling his eyes when he remembered to whom he was speaking. “Uh, I mean...Your Majesty, I was ordered to be here.” 

Oops.

To his great surprise, the queen didn't respond to his sarcasm with contempt. She didn't reply haughtily or sentence him to the dungeon. As before, when she had first met Sven, she laughed. 

“You clearly didn't grow up in the castle, did you?” Her voice was punctuated by laughter.

“No. I was an ice harvester.”

The queen giggled again, thinking of her sister, “Ooh, that's a rough business to be in right now.”

Kristoff grunted, hoping that the queen's silence meant she regretted the barb. 

They walked on.

The queen tried to start conversation again after several moments. “So, if you were an ice harvester, does that mean you've been up the North Mountain?”

“Yes.”

“Me too,” said the queen, “I’ve even entered the enchanted forest.”

Kristoff couldn't help but let a derisive chuckle escape. “I doubt that,” he said.

“No, really. I've been on adventures.”

“That deep into the mountains?”

The queen sat up confidently on her horse and slowed her pace so that she was right beside Kristoff and Sven. She beamed proudly. “Yes. Haven't you heard the stories?”

The blond man shook his head, and Queen Anna began to tell him an exciting tale of adventure, danger, talking snowmen, wolves, waterfalls, rock giants, magic, and near-death experiences. As she spoke, Kristoff recognized some of the terrain features she described from his own adventures through these mountains. He told her about the time he was thrown out of Oaken's Trading Post (and Sauna). He told her about how he was also chased by wolves along the lower end of the trail. 

They compared stories, and much to Kristoff's surprise, he was having a fluid, fun, and even interesting conversation with the queen of Arendelle. 

“I can't believe you were always scared of that ravine and that I jumped over it!” Anna grinned after Kristoff finished a story. 

“I wasn't scared of it,” corrected Kristoff, “I said I'm cautious around it. Maybe that's the reason you really do need an escort.” He was teasing the queen of Arendelle! Only this morning he wouldn't have imagined himself getting away with this.

His companion laughed. It was the sound of bells in the air. “I'm fine on my own. Don't forget that I outran a giant snowman!”

“Okay then,” said Kristoff, pulling Sven to a halt and goading the queen further, “Show me how we get home from here.”

“Easy,” she grinned, “We just turn around and follow the trail back the same way we came.”

Kristoff turned and looked over his broad shoulder at the sky behind them. It was late afternoon, but the sun hadn't disappeared behind the mountaintops yet. They had plenty of daylight for a misadventure. 

Recklessly, he chose the undignified route of mocking the queen further. “You lead the way,” he announced, following her Majesty once again.

The pair talked companionably for a bit longer, but soon returned to what was now a comfortable silence. As the sun sank and the shadow of the mountain finally reached them, the queen eventually slowed Kjekk's pace to a stop and turned to glare at Kristoff.

“You tricked me,” she accused. Her voice was angry but her eyes were glinting with a smile.

“Your Majesty,” Kristoff said, amazed at his own daring, “I would never trick a royal queen. I merely asked you to lead the way home.”

She pointed at a fallen tree. “We've been going in circles for over an hour. I've seen this tree at least twice. How do we get home?”

“I don't know,” he lied.

Queen Anna's face fell. Her gaze darted around the darkening forest fearfully and she clutched her horse's reins with whitening knuckles. “We're really lost?”

Kristoff was worried that he had gone too far. Is there an official dungeon for foolish men who flirt with queens?

“No, Your Majesty,” he quickly reassured, “We're not lost. I know the way home. Right now we're on a loop but there's a couple offshoots we could take.”

“Oh,” her shoulders lowered as visible relief swept over her body, “Thank goodness.” Her smile was back again and she fixed it on him. The effect gave Kristoff the confidence for one more tease.

“I'll lead us back,” he paused, “If you admit that you really do need an escort.”

The queen gasped in mock astonishment, then laughed musically once more.

Kristoff didn't move.

A pause.

“Oh fine! I do need help. Now please take me home.” Again, her voice was angry but a smile betrayed her. “Perhaps next time I won't request you to be my escort.”

And even though Kristoff knew that there would be extra work waiting for him at the stables when they returned, he found himself hoping that she didn't mean what she had said, because he was looking forward to possibly spending time with the interesting queen again.


	2. Chapter 2

“Queen Anna is coming,” said one of the grooms.

One of the stable hands nodded, but most of the men in the stable ignored the announcement. By now, the queen's approach had become a frequent occurrence two or three times weekly.

Happily, this also meant that the stables were kept in a much more tidy condition than they had been before. With Queen Anna's frequent visits, the men simply maintained the stables better. Last week Kristoff had even helped the other stable boys paint a green and gold finish on some of the more prominent horse's stalls. Sven's little cranny in the back remained unpolished, but tidy.

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” bowed the stable manager when she arrived, “Shall we prepare your horse?”

“Yes, please,” replied Anna primly, “and notify my escort.”

The stable manager bowed and hurried off to the back of the barn.

When her horse was ready, Anna climbed aboard and settled into the ornate saddle. She peered behind her and confirmed that Kristoff was all ready for departure with Sven. They shared a polite nod to one another, ready to go.

With a slight smile on her lips, Anna dug her heels into her steed and began to stride forward. When she had left the barn area she broke into a trot, and once off the castle grounds her horse cantered into the woods. All the while, Kristoff and Sven followed, a respectable distance away.

Once they reached the edge of the trees though, the pair would close the gap between them and walk their horse and reindeer side by side. Sometimes they were silent, but usually they picked up their conversations right where they had left off from last time.

\---

“So, what do ye do all afternoon out with the queen, eh?” leered Jonas, elbowing Kristoff teasingly.

Kristoff shrugged his shoulders and lied, “I've told you before. Nothing. I hardly talk to her except to answer questions about the terrain or to help with her horse.”

“D'ya ever comment on the weather? Have a little chat?” asked another stable hand.

“Nope. Not even that. Our rides are mostly silent.”

“Oh, 'our rides,' so you share them do ya?”

“Hardly.” Kristoff rolled his eyes.

“Well then what's the queen doing? You guys are gone most all afternoon...” Jonas's voice trailed off.

“Sometimes early evening.” A third stable hand waggled his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Jonas added, “Sometimes more. What is she up to?”

“Not sure.” Kristoff started playing with the dirt on the barn floor.

“Does she have favorite haunts to visit?”

“Look. I'm not allowed to tell you about our rides. She's expressly forbidden it.”

“Oh, so she does talk with you then.”

“No,” Kristoff sighed and looked off into the distant forest where they had ridden today. A light smile played across his lips, unseen by the stablemen around him.

\---

“Your Majesty?” asked Jonas as he tightened her saddle's girth, “I know it's not my place to ask, but I would like to know the answer to a question.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you go on these rides all the time?”

“Well, at first, it was to get a break from palace life and to enjoy the summer days.”

Jonas grinned, “At first? And what about now?”

“Now,” the queen smiled, “They're just fun.”

From where he stood, Kristoff overheard the conversation. His heart glowed, and he grinned helplessly.

\---

Queen Anna and Kristoff looked out at the blue glassy surface of a lake nestled in a valley. As far as they could tell, there was nobody else for miles around. This lake belonged to them.

“It's a shame we have to ride so far in these uncomfortable saddles to get here though,” murmured Queen Anna. “I can't imagine how you and Sven feel with only the one blanket beneath the saddle.”

“It's okay,” Kristoff said. His thoughts were distracted. What the queen had pointed out was closely connected to something that had been on his mind for at least a few weeks now. Despite all the time that the pair had spent together on rides and all of the closeness that they had developed through conversation, they had never actually dismounted. 

Kristoff felt a connection to the queen and longed to touch her, but they were always kept separate by the size and height of their mounts. He longed for some small intimacy, even if it was just his hands briefly around her waist to help her down off the horse. 

They watched a hawk circle above the far shore of the lake.

“You know, Princess,” Kristoff coughed, “I can help you down from your saddle if you'd like. You could take a break.”

Her head snapped from the hawk back to Kristoff beside her. Oh! He loved the way her lips were parted as she thought. He could tell from her pause and her anxious expression that the queen also recognized that helping her down from the saddle would mean putting his hands on her. She also knew that she would be more vulnerable on the ground than on her tall horse. He wondered if she longed for it as much as he did.

“I mean, you don’t have to...I only meant…”

“Okay,” she whispered.

Kristoff slowly swung himself off Sven and strode around to the queen’s side. Her Majesty blushed down at him. Was she as nervous as he was?

“Right,” Kristoff said, before reaching out to touch her, “I'm just going to put my hands on your waist and you'll swing your far leg over, shift your weight, and I'll lower you down.”

Queen Anna had been helped down from horses by gentlemen before. She had even been helped by men who were certainly less than gentle, but she had never been held around the waist by a man she spent so much time thinking about. 

“Right,” she said, giving him permission to reach out to her.

She was down before she knew it. The moment her feet alighted on the ground Kristoff let go and took a step back to a respectable distance. It was as if he wanted to prove to whichever forest creatures might be watching that there was no funny business going on here.

Her balance faltered when she tried to take a step. Fortunately, her sturdy horse was close enough for her to grab as she caught her fall. Kristoff reached out toward her but arrived too late. “I guess next time you dismount I'll have to stand closer,” he suggested, “In case your horse spooks.”

The queen nodded, then said shakily, “Except I don't think you standing closer will help out my balance any.”

Kristoff blushed pink and averted his gaze, though he was pleased with the comment.

“I guess now that I'm not on my horse anymore you'll find out how clumsy I really am.”

Kristoff thought of the time in the past when she got her foot tangled in her own stirrup, or the countless times when she had twigs and leaves tangled in her hair, including right now. “I think I already have a fair idea about how clumsy you are.” He reached up and gently pulled a small piece of debris from near her ear. She shivered at his touch.

\---

“Kristoff?”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“We're friends, aren't we?”

Kristoff's stomach lurched with butterflies. She'd never called him her friend before. Privately in his own thoughts he had long considered her his closest friend. He had dreamed to find out that she felt the same.

“Yes,” he said, “I think we're friends.”

“Good,” she grinned. “Then you should call me Anna.”

_Anna._

\---

By now their rides only started out on horseback. 

As soon as they lost sight of the stables and palace, the pair would decide which area of the region to explore on foot. Kristoff much preferred it this way, walking around with the queen. It gave him opportunities to touch her under the pretense of guiding her, or capturing her attention. 

He was quickly realizing that finding excuses to touch his friend was a new favorite hobby. When he helped her on or off her horse, he would let his grip linger for a few moments longer than necessary before he would release her. When they walked together through the forest, he would frequently put an arm around her shoulders or waist to guide her around even the smallest of puddles or exposed roots. Often he would do this even when he knew that she had seen the obstruction and was starting to go around it anyway.

He was always subtle, with his hands never staying on her more any more than a few seconds, and never enough to be completely improper. _It's not much, he thought, but I have to take what I can get._ So far, he had been fortunate in that the queen didn't seem to mind. In fact, she would occasionally reach out to touch him too. Whenever she began to lose balance _(Was she really that clumsy?)_ An arm would reach out for his shoulder, his hand, or his forearm. His favorite was when she would put her hand on his elbow, allowing him to guide her way, and absently left it there, sometimes for minutes at a time.

“Anna, look,” he placed one hand deliciously on the small of her back and pointed with the other toward a fixture on the deserted fjord before them, “a dock.”

“I see it,” Anna beamed. “Let's go sit while the sun sets.”

Needing no further instruction, Kristoff gingerly lead Anna down to the water. It would be less than ten minutes until sunset. It was a new risk that they weren't already on their way back, but who was he to argue with Her Majesty?

He settled himself beside Anna on the abandoned dock, gazing up at the clouds fading from orange and yellow to pinks and purples. Their legs dangled over the smooth water as they each leaned back and supported their weight with their arms. Anna, absently kicking her feet, sighed and whispered dreamily, “It's beautiful.”

Kristoff nodded, but found that he couldn't quite relax like Anna beside him. She was too close, wasn't she? The colors reflected beautifully off of Anna's faintly smiling face, and the calm of the water and still of the twilight heightened his senses of his own heartbeat and closeness to the queen.

Now, under the beautiful sky and alone on the silent dock, he felt an almost overwhelming desire for Anna. They were so close. All he would have to do would be to scoot a bit nearer and he could reach both of his arms around her waist. He could pull her into his lap and hold her close. He could kiss her. 

He would lose his job and he would never see her again.

Anna turned her gaze back down from the sky and caught her friend's eye. This surprised Kristoff, and he hurriedly averted his glance and stared back up at the lights, wincing that he had been caught staring at her and thinking these thoughts. With disappointment, he sensed that Anna had quickly turned her head too.

Still, he wanted to touch her. Not just an incidental touch where he was helping her or tapping her to get her attention. He wanted to purposefully touch her. He wanted to know what her reaction would be. It was entirely improper, and they weren’t even supposed to be out this late in the first place.

He could feel Anna's legs still swinging and rocking the dock slightly as they dangled. 

Kristoff decided that it was now or never. Without looking at his companion, so he could pretend it was an accident if he needed to, he slowly shifted his position until he was supporting himself with only one arm. With the other hand, he gently, softly, silently placed it on top of Anna's until it rested there, barely supporting any of his weight. He stared forward and waited to see what she would do.

Instantly, he felt her stop rocking her feet in mid-kick. 

_Does she feel all of her focus and attention going to her hand too?_

She slowly lowered her legs. From the corner of his vision, Kristoff could see her turn her head to look at him, then she looked down at their hands and quickly back forward. He imagined that she was biting her lip nervously. Her breathing had gotten more shallow. Still, he sat, frozen, eyes forward, paying careful attention to what she did. He didn't move or change position. To his great joy, neither did she.

It wasn't quite like holding hands. He was just resting his palm against the back of her hand. Even so, it was a long, purposeful touch, shared with a royal queen. Best of all, she wasn’t pulling away.

If she was letting him do this, then maybe his growing feelings for her weren't so crazy after all.

They sat on the docks like that for several moments, each staring forward and up at the sky, linked by their touching hands. Kristoff was determined not to move. He felt Anna's body as it became less tense and her breathing began to relax. 

Then, she started to move her hand. Only, she wasn’t taking it away from him. 

She was moving just her fingers. They lifted up off the wood of the dock between Kristoff's own fingers and gently laced their way between them. Kristoff complied with her hand's grasping request and intertwined his fingers with hers. 

He glanced down to the girl beside him. She was smiling up at him, but her smile was soft and sad. “We can't...” she whispered, not finishing her sentence.

 _We can't? We can't what?_ Thought Kristoff, _We can't do this. We can't hold hands. We can't be more than friends. We can't go any further than this. We can't even be here._

Kristoff nodded, “I know.”

But he didn't let go, and neither did she. They both turned their gazes back to the lights, away from each other and away from their hands, ignoring that it was probably something that they both enjoyed. 

If they ignored it, then maybe the feelings that came with it would go away.

Kristoff wondered what would happen if he gave her hand a squeeze. He wondered what would happen if he turned to make eye contact once more with the girl beside him. He wondered what would happen if he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. 

_What would it taste like?_

He wondered these things, but he did not do them. He continued to stare upward at the sky, hoping that this forbidden moment would last as long as it could.


	3. Chapter 3

“Haven't seen your little queen around these parts for a while now have we?” a much younger stable boy teased, “Have you finally scared her off?”

“Gods, I hope not,” Kristoff said truthfully. Anna hadn't come down to ride with him for several weeks.

In fact, the pair hadn't interacted at all since the night when they held hands in careful silence by the dock. He had come to regret his actions that evening. Clearly he had driven her away by being too forward. 

_Or maybe she's just as nervous to see me again as I am..._ he thought to himself.

The stable master had overheard the teasing, “Don't be a fool,” he said, “The entire royal party has been very busy as of late, what with all the visiting dignitaries they've had. Frankly, I'm sick of it.”

It was true. Several foreign nobles and royals had been by to visit the palace. Each visitor brought with them a charge of horses that became the responsibility of Arendelle's royal stables. It was creating a lot of extra work for the stable master and his crew.

 _Maybe he's right. Maybe the latest visitors are the reason I haven't had a chance to see her. Maybe it doesn't have to do with me after all._ Even that thought, however, didn't fill him entirely with hope. There had been rumors going around that one of their regal visitors were there with the intention of seriously courting the queen. Kristoff didn't want Queen Anna to spend too much time with any of the guests and end up falling in love with one.

“Anyway, I think you're going to get to see your precious queen later today,” continued the stable master, “We've got orders to prepare several horses for a hunt later, and hers is one of them.”

“Really?” Kristoff's voice cracked in his excitement.

Both the stable master and the young boy laughed. “Yeah, loverboy, you'll get to see her soon,” teased the stable master as he clapped Kristoff on the shoulder, “Now get to work.”

\---

When the riding party approached, and all of the stable workers clamored to find out who they had been preparing the horses for, Kristoff's eyes were only searching for Anna. He hoped that she would be friendly to him. Even just a nod. He didn't want holding hands silently to be the last positive interaction that they would ever share. 

To his great joy, as soon as he caught her eye, he saw Anna raise a subtle hand and give him a small wave and smile. He cheered inwardly at the gesture. Sadly, however, he saw that she was walking right beside a regally dressed and mustachioed man with an ostentatious crown around his head. The prince’s eyes were also on the queen.

When it was time for the group to mount their horses, Kristoff positioned himself beside Anna's steed. He was eager to hold her in his arms once more, even if it was as brief as lifting her up onto a horse. He tried to think of something he could whisper to her to make her laugh. Kristoff’s hopes were dashed however, when he felt himself pushed aside by the visiting prince.

“Not to worry, lad,” the prince announced, “I can handle this. You can get back to mucking out stalls.”

Kristoff watched helplessly as the prince lifted the slender queen up onto her mount. He felt like the man's hands were all wrong.

_He's holding her too low. Or maybe it's too high? Why are his hands there at all?_

It was hard for Kristoff to define, but something just seemed wrong.

_Inappropriate, maybe?_

He saw that the prince's prideful grin showed that he was enjoying his closeness to the queen.

Despite the fact that Kristoff had enjoyed the exact same pleasure at holding her many times before, he felt awful seeing this pleasure in another man's eyes. When Kristoff did the same thing it wasn't so _lecherous_.

Furthering the blond man's anguish, he saw that the prince wasn't letting go of the girl in his arms. 

“Take your time to settle in, Your Majesty, and let me know when you're ready,” he cooed, continuing to hold the queen's waist as she sat on the horse. It was a grip that lasted just a little too long, and it was a trick that Kristoff had pulled off himself so many times before.

_Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!_

Happily, though, he saw the queen's reaction. When Kristoff held Anna aloft on her horse, she would often take the time to straighten her dress or shift her weight in the saddle. _(He loved when she did that because he could feel her hips swing slightly in his hands.)_ A few times, she would reach a hand out to grasp Kristoff’s forearm for balance, though he was almost certain she didn't need it.

It gladdened Kristoff to see that Anna wasn't doing any of these things for the prince. Instead, she gently pushed his hands away from her waist. “I'm fine, Viktor, thank you,” she said primly.

The prince wasn't perturbed in the slightest by her actions. He smoothly transferred their hands so that he was holding one of hers securely in both of his. “Might I say, you look like a goddess up on your horse, Your Royal Majesty,” then, Prince Viktor bowed slightly until his lips met with the white back of her hand in a sweet kiss.

Kristoff's heart sank. Kissing her hand was exactly something that he had been wanting to do for months now. How can this prince come in with all his pomp and just accomplish what Kristoff had been working himself up to do for so long?

_Am I that much of a coward? Would it really have been that easy?_

Although he was distraught and jealous, Kristoff tried not to let it show on his face, because Anna had turned to look at him. He caught her eye and gave her a weak smile. Anna grinned back and winked, wiping the back of her hand in the folds of her skirt as the pompous prince walked away.

_That's probably a good sign._

\---

Later, the stable hands watched the riding party ride off toward the forest, “Well loverboy, it looks like you've got some competition,” said the stable master, “That prince is after your girl.”

“Competition? Please. Kristoff's no prince,” sneered another stable hand. 

“And Anna's not even my girl,” said Kristoff.

The men around him all burst into laughter. “What did you call her?” asked the the stable master between chuckles.

“Don't even need to use her title now do ya?” laughed a man.

“Oh boy, this guy's got it bad.”

\---

Kristoff had been looking for chores that would keep him busy near the front of the stables until the hunting party returned. When he finally heard the scuffle and voices that heralded their arrival, he was brushing down an injured carriage horse very slowly. 

To his dismay, when he saw Anna she was riding right alongside the foreign prince, and laughing at something he had said.

The blond sighed defeatedly and gave the horse before him a quick pat, then went to join the other stable hands in receiving and caring for the newly returned horses.  
With relief, Kristoff noticed that Anna led Kjekk right to where he was waiting for her. 

Kristoff bowed and went to get a stool to help her to dismount. As much as he would have loved to put his hands around her small waist and lift her down, close to him, Kristoff knew that with the eyes of the stable watching he had to keep his distance.  
“No need for that, lad. I'll take care of the goddess!” called the prince from behind him. Kristoff turned and saw that the prince was again about to help Queen Anna with her horse.

Again, Kristoff watched as the prince touched his queen in ways that were simply _wrong._

When Kristoff helped her down, he placed his hands very loosely _(okay, not too loosely recently)_ around her waist. He allowed Anna to swing her leg around, and then he gently held her steady and guided her to the ground. It was safe, it was easy, and it gave Kristoff small joy.

In horror, Kristoff watched as the prince got most of the same steps right, but instead of gently lowering her down, Prince Viktor did something Kristoff hadn't even dared to imagine. He yanked her slight frame off the horse and tossed her just a couple of inches into the air. Anna yelped in surprise, spooking her horse a little. When the prince caught her again, Anna was no longer facing the horse. He had managed to spin her around to face him, and was lowering her pressed up against his body. She had no choice but to lean into him for support, as his tight arms gripped around her. Kristoff had to  
admit, if they had been lovers, then it would have been quite romantic.

But the pair weren't lovers, and the queen was not happy. The tight grimace on her face said as much.

Kristoff was certain that it matched his own. 

_Who is this prince and how does he think he can come and handle a woman like that?_

He wasn't just jealous of the prince anymore. Now he was angry. 

“Thank you,” she said primly when he finally released her. She took a wide step backwards to get away from him, almost running herself back into Kjekk's side.

“No, My Goddess. Thank you.”

\---

“So,” Kristoff asked a few days later on another ride out, as they were heading through a cool, shady path to the southern lake. “Is that prince still around the palace?” He was scared of the answer he might receive. If the Prince Viktor was really spending time courting Queen Anna, then perhaps she was coming to fall in love with him. Had he found more illicit opportunities to hold her without Kristoff's knowledge?

“Ugh,” Anna groaned. “Yes, he's here. Playing tennis with an earl or something right now. I'm supposed to be there to watch. I slipped out though.” She flipped her red hair coquettishly, proud to have gotten away.

“Wait, why are you supposed to be there?” Kristoff asked, though he already knew the answer.

The queen chortled, “I'm supposed to be allowing him to court me. Couldn't you tell?”

Yes. Of course he could tell. What he really wanted to know was, _is it working?_

She continued, “Oh, but he's terrible at it. He keeps kissing my hand and he won't stop calling me 'Goddess' or 'My Goddess'. He's kind of a creep actually. I mean, he thinks he has this in the bag, but he doesn't know that I plan to marry for love.”

“Marry for love?” Even though Kristoff knew that the chances were incredibly small and that the tides were turned against him. The thought of Anna marrying for love gave him just enough hope for him to imagine marrying her himself.

“Yep. For love. I almost married Hans for love. What's stopping me from doing it again?”

“I thought you didn't love Hans?”

“Well, of course I didn't. I thought that I did though. I just didn't know what love was. You can't marry a man you just met.”

Kristoff rolled his eyes. “I could have told you that.”

“Right, but I didn't know you then.” Anna slowed her horse down. They had reached the shores of the lake, and she had promised Kristoff that they would eat a small picnic meal beside it today. “Besides,” she added, “I've learned my lesson. This time, I'm falling in love slowly.”

“With the prince?”

_Please say no. Please say me._

“With whomever I'm falling in love with next.”

Kristoff nodded. 

_So, she didn't say she's falling in love with me. Really, how could I expect her to?_

He dismounted from Sven and came to her side to help her down. 

_But, she did seem to say she's falling in love with someone, and she did seem to imply that it's not the prince..._

In his reverie, Kristoff barely noticed that he had taken her hand in his. Instead of reaching up around her hips to help her down, Kristoff had simply reached up and taken her left hand. Anna was smiling down at him, waiting for him to notice.

“Oh!” he said, still not letting go. 

Oh no, oh no!

He hadn't held her hand since that evening on the dock.

Sure, she's wearing a riding glove this time, but now we're actually looking at each other and, Wait, is she laughing at me?

Anna giggled at her friend, watching his distraught face. Clearly this was a joke to her. 

_Hmm, well I'll show her._

Daringly, and with disregard for the consequences, he removed her glove.

“What are you doing?”

He raised her hand to his lips.

“Kristoff!” she laughed nervously, but didn't pull her hand back.

He kissed the soft white back of her hand.

“My Goddess,” he winked. _There,_ he thought, _See what she makes of that. I'm not_ actually _kissing a queen if I'm only doing it to mock another man._

“Oh, Prince,” she played along, fanning herself in over-exaggerated modesty, “You do know how to charm a girl.” Kristoff noticed that she hadn't wiped her hand on her dress though, unlike before with Prince Viktor.

“I do,” he countered, “and you should see how I get her down from her horse.”

Anna's mouth fell open and she fought a smile. “You wouldn't dare,” she said.

Kristoff faltered. Maybe he shouldn't have gone that far. After all, it was improper for the prince to be lifting her royal Majesty the way he did, and he was royalty! Kristoff was just a lowly groom in the stables.

Not only that, but the couple was alone out here in the woods with no chaperone. No. Perhaps he shouldn't go so far as to joke about holding the queen. An apology was just on the tip of his tongue when he heard her surprise him.

“Show me,” she said, eyebrows raised.


	4. Chapter 4

“Oh loverboy!” Karl called to Kristoff. The stable master was carrying two sets of reins. “I've got bad news for ya. Today we're preparing two horses to go out for a ride together, and it's just gonna be your queen and her prince.”

“Ooh,” Jonas said, walking up and patting Kristoff on the back in mock condolence, “That can't be good. Rides alone with her were your thing.”

“We don't have a thing,” Kristoff said, realizing that for once he was probably telling the truth to the stable men.

“Yeah, but you wish you did.”

Kristoff walked over to Kjekk's stall and began readying him for a ride. _Yes, it's true. I wish I had a thing with her. I thought we might have..._ His thoughts drifted off, thinking of the time that they had shared. Somehow, he had gotten it into his head that the reason she was coming down to the stables for so many rides was to spend time with him. Of course, that couldn't be right. She was a queen and he was a nobody. Any queen would prefer to go out for rides alone with a prince over him.

It would be hard to watch Anna ride out with another man, but Kristoff knew it would be inevitable.

When Anna and the prince arrived, Kristoff made sure to be the stable hand to bring their tacked up horses out to them. He was prepared to be very professional, but it caught him off guard to hear Anna ask a question laced with disappointment, “Where's Sven?”

_Sven?_ Kristoff couldn't hide his sudden smile.

“Who's Sven?” asked the prince derisively.

“Sven is, er...he's my royal attendant's noble steed,” said Anna.

_Royal attendant?_

Kristoff's eyes grew brighter hearing his new title. That didn’t sound too bad.

“Your Majesty, while we ride out together you won't need a royal attendant. I will attend to all of your royal needs,” the prince’s voice was low and murky with questionable intentions.

“Thank you, Viktor,” Anna said, “but everyone knows it is highly improper for a queen to be out in the woods alone with only a single male companion.” Her eyes caught Kristoff’s and she winked before continuing, “I have to protect my reputation.”

“Ah, yes,” the prince smirked. “You must remain untarnished.”

Kristoff and Anna exchanged another glance. Anna’s eyes were wide.

“I'll see to it that Sven is prepared at once,” announced Kristoff. “It will be but a moment,” he reassured the queen. Anna smiled faintly in return, and Kristoff watched as relief flashed through her face.

\---

After enduring several of Prince Viktor’s uncreative and mocking comments about Sven, the party trotted out into the forest beyond the palace. From his vantage several horse-lengths behind the royal pair, Kristoff noticed Anna’s body was unusually erect in her saddle, as if she was on high alert. Even when they crossed the threshold into the woods, her shoulders remained stiff. _What was it about this prince that made her so nervous?_

When Sven started to pull forward, out of habit, to reach the queen and walk beside her, Kristoff had to gently pull back on the reins. “Woah boy,” he said, “Today we have to watch.”

\---

It was a relief to Kristoff that the queen and prince were not interesting riders to follow through the woods. The ride was short and nobody dismounted. Throughout their time together, Kristoff wondered why Anna had insisted he come along. Had something inappropriate already happened in the castle between herself and the prince?

Of course, Kristoff could barely admit it to himself, but nearly every inappropriate scenario he imagined between the prince and Anna became much more tolerable if he replaced Prince Viktor with himself.

_Stealing kisses, holding the queen close, running hands through loose copper hair..._

\---

Over the next several days, Kristoff found himself imagining various scenes where he interrupted the prince attempting to caress or fondle poor Anna. He would burst in, frightening the prince with his mere presence and rage. Sometimes, all he did was growl, and the prince would scamper away in cowardice. Other times, he had to fight the man, maybe even with swords. Once the prince was defeated, Anna would run to Kristoff, throwing her arms around him. She'd kiss him fiercely.

Kristoff usually stopped his dream with a kiss, but sometimes he’d imagine the queen would allow his hands to wander. She might give him access to parts of her body that only her handmaidens knew. Sometimes, Kristoff would even imagine learning the feeling of soft palace sheets...

These thoughts were impossible, but they were what sustained Kristoff while Viktor kept him apart from Queen Anna. Plus, unlike the vile Viktor, Kristoff knew that he was a gentleman. He'd never act on these thoughts, even if Anna had invited him to. The most he could hope for was maybe a kiss of gratitude.

Perhaps on their next ride out, Anna would thank him for riding along to protect her from Prince Victor. Kristoff would flirt back, saying it had been extremely hard work following them around, that it had been boring and had taken him away from other stable chores. He would ask the beautiful queen for something in return for his hard work as her handsome protector.

Sometimes in his thoughts, Anna would blush and look down. Then Kristoff would put a hand under her chin and tell her he'd accept a kiss as payment for his good deeds. Other times he imagined Anna boldly saying, “Oh yeah?” and leaning forward to catch his mouth herself, taunting “How's that for payment?” as Kristoff smiled dreamily afterward. Always there was a kiss. Always it was perfect.

\---

Two days after Prince Viktor's exit, Anna finally requested a ride out alone with Kristoff. The usually quiet man found it difficult this time to keep up the charade of silently following Anna into the woods before speaking to her. He had to hold back until just when they arrived at the cover of trees, but before he could even begin to talk, Anna surprised him by speaking first.

“Thank you,” she said, spinning in her saddle to face him.

“For keeping the prince at bay?” asked Kristoff, though he already knew why.

“Yes.” The queen looked down at the ground.

By now Kristoff had caught up with her horse, and allowed Sven to stop right beside her. He wanted so badly to try to live out the scenario he had been dreaming about and to joke that it had been hard work without pay, but something about the look on Anna's face and her downward gaze drew him to speak sincerely instead.

“Anna, I am so glad that I was able to be there. You don't even have to thank me. I was happy to do it.”

The queen nodded, “Still, thank you.” She started to bid Kjekk to move forward, but Kristoff's gently reached out and tugged his reins back. 

“Woah,” he called to Kjekk, then turned his gaze back to the queen. “Anna, please look at me.”

She did.

“What did that creep do to you?”

“Nothing. Really!” to Kristoff's surprise, Anna was actually speaking quite fiercely. “It was just...dumb. And...not a big deal.”

Kristoff was silent.

“Look, can we just...ride to the fjord or something?” asked Anna.

“After you tell me what happened,” he said, keeping his grip firm on Kjekk's reins, refusing what was practically a royal command. His heart pounded.

Anna sighed, “Really, I told you it's no big deal. He just...tried to kiss me. That's all.” Her eyes were cast down.

Kristoff immediately let go of Kjekk's reins. “You're right,” his voice was soft, “That would be bad.” The young man's heart sank. Although it was a relief to know that Viktor had never gotten further with the queen than just an attempt to touch his lips to hers, it was also a reminder to Kristoff how impossible it would be between the queen and himself.

“No, no. That's not what I said. I said it wasn't a big deal!”

Kristoff shook his head. “No. You're a queen. You can't just go around letting men kiss you.”

Anna inhaled sharply, about to speak, but changed her mind and sighed. “No,” she said through tight lips, “I can't.”

Neither of them spoke for several beats.

“Where would you like to ride today then, Your Majesty?”

_Your Majesty. Not Anna._

Anna could hear the sadness in his voice and knew then that he had hoped to kiss her. She had often wondered about kissing him too. Didn't he know? Hadn't she already allowed him to touch her in so many ways? On her back, shoulders, arms, hand?  
She had given him far more encouragement than the prince had ever received. She certainly never over-exaggerated a fall to land against the prince's chest. At least twice she had done that with Kristoff.

And when he wasn't looking, Anna was perfectly capable of climbing up onto Kjekk without help. It was just nice to have him lift her. Once, when Kristoff had squeezed her waist ever so gently and probingly before letting go she had even smiled down at him. But these were all borderline gentlemanly things in the guise of propriety. She could think of no reason a royal attendant would have to kiss her lips, even if they both wanted it.

As she followed Sven and Kristoff down the familiar trail, Anna knew also that after the conversation they had just had, Kristoff would certainly be feeling discouraged. Later, when he lifted her down from her horse by the shore of the fjord, his hands let go of her like hot coals.


	5. Chapter 5

For two weeks she had hoped it was merely a phase, but by now Anna was becoming frustrated. Ever since Prince Viktor had left Arendelle her rides with Kristoff had changed. Her friend seemed to be trying to cut off all ties with her and had reverted back to the cold propriety that had punctuated more of their first months together. His answers to her questions had devolved into one-word grunts, and he had defaulted to following behind on Sven from a highly respectable and irksomely large distance once more.

Whenever they did dismount and Anna tried to rest her hand on his shoulder or arm, the ice man quickly shrugged it off. Even when she got braver and started grabbing for his whole hand he managed to slip it out of her reach and hide it firmly within his pockets. Anna tried allowing herself to become even clumsier than she had been before, and sought out any excuse to fall into her escort's arms. When this happened, however, Kristoff would merely grab the queen's shoulders (a bit more roughly than usual) and straighten her up with a reproachful grunt. Anna's disappointment was beginning to win out over hope, but it was nothing compared to Kristoff's inner turmoil.

 _Is it just me, or is she trying to get me to slip up?_ He asked himself after Anna flung her arms around him, claiming she had thought she'd seen a snake for the second time that day. 

_Maybe we should stop getting off Kjekk and Sven to walk around. She has no idea how dangerous this is for us._

Dangerous because the more Kristoff held back from allowing himself to flirt with the queen, the more she would push herself upon him. 

_What am I supposed to do?_ He wondered.

\---

It was probably one of the last warm days of the year before winter and Anna was sitting on a knoll reading a book when she finally began to have success breaking down the wall Kristoff had erected between them. It was a feat achieved through trickery.

She had reached a stopping point in her book and glanced up to find Kristoff staring at her intently from the bottom of the knoll. The pond where he had been skipping rocks earlier had gone completely still and his arm had fallen to his side, stone still in hand. Anna was suddenly aware of the way she was sitting. Laying on her side, the curves of her body formed in waves that didn't usually exist, and with her attention focused on her book, Kristoff had clearly felt free to stare. What exactly he might be thinking was barely a mystery. Anna was certain that it was far from the prim and proper theme of their recent interactions.

With any other man, Anna probably would've felt threatened by such a blatantly lustful gaze. She probably would have stood up immediately and reminded them exactly who she was and how inappropriate it was to stare. Even with Kristoff before, she might've felt at least a little uncomfortable and started to tease, but since he had been trying to ice her out recently, Anna was instead grateful for the renewed attention and took it as a good sign.

She turned her own gaze back down and pretended to resume reading, wondering how long it would be before Kristoff moved again. With her free hand, she reached up and over to rub the back of her neck, while her tongue gently licked her own lips. She had never before attempted anything close to seduction in her life, and wondered if this was right. A peek up at Kristoff showed her that he still hadn't moved, so she decided to up the ante. She brought her hand away from her neck and gently rested it in the valley of her waist. Slowly, she traced her hand down her side and up to her hip, stopping when she finally heard a choking sound escape from Kristoff.

“What are you doing?” He asked. 

Anna glanced at him nonchalantly, “Reading,” she answered simply, unable to hide her smile. Then she said, “I could ask the same of you. What are you doing?”

Kristoff crossed his arms defensively in front of his chest to regain composure. “ _I_ was skipping rocks,” he announced.

“Hmmm,” Anna mused.

Kristoff finally raised the stone that was still in his hand and tossed it into the lake. It skipped seven times before sinking into the water, and it gave Anna another idea.

“Will you teach me to throw rocks like that?”

“ _Skip_ rocks,” he corrected, “You don't just throw them.”

“Right,” Anna grinned and stood up. “Teach me to do that too.”

Kristoff watched as Anna tentatively picked her way over the rocky footing by the lake. He was tempted to offer her a hand, but as far as he could recall he had barely touched her for weeks.

“Okay,” the Kristoff grunted when Anna finally reached the shore. She was standing closer than she needed to but that was probably fine. “The first thing you need is the right kind of rock. It's gotta be smooth and flat, and small enough that you can toss it with plenty of speed...”

“Like this?” Anna interrupted cheerfully, holding up a huge bumpy specimen that met exactly zero of the requirements.

“Uh, no,” Kristoff furrowed his brows, “Like this.” He tried to hand a smoother stone to Anna, but she immediately dropped it.

“Whoops!” She said, “Clumsy me.”

“Right,” Kristoff sighed and tried to hand the rock to her again, but Anna dropped it a second time. 

“Sorry,” she chimed.

“It's okay,” Kristoff grumbled, “Just stop dropping it.” This time, instead of simply letting go of the stone into Anna's palm, he grabbed her hand and held it open with one of his own. With the other, he placed the stone into her palm and carefully closed her fingers over it, giving her hand a small squeeze to be sure that she had it. The simple gesture came naturally to him, as if he hadn't been avoiding this exact kind of contact for weeks. Anna grinned.

“Now,” her friend continued, “You've got to be sure you're holding the stone properly, like this.” He modeled a loose grasp on a stone with his thumb along the top and his index finger grazing the edge.

“Like this?” Anna chirped. Her rock was held tightly in her balled fist.

“No.” Kristoff was a mostly patient teacher. He rearranged her fingers correctly around the stone. 

Anna again appreciated that his hands were on hers once more, and marveled that he hadn't noticed that this was exactly what she was going for.

“Now, your throw is also important,” he explained, “You've got to stand straight with knees bent and pull the stone back low. Then you release it forward and flick your wrist so that...No! What are you doing?”

But before he could reach out and lower Anna's arm, she had sent the stone flying out over the lake in a high arc that was nowhere near ready to skip anywhere. It landed with a satisfying plop and fell straight to the bottom. At least, the plop satisfied Anna.

“Whoops” she smiled. “I guess I still need lots of help.”

Kristoff paused and glared at Anna for a moment before repeating all the steps again, gently placing a stone into her hand and then arranging her fingers correctly. When they were ready to throw once more and he started to explain, Anna interrupted him, “Will you do it for me?”

“Throw for you?” Kristoff asked.

“No, I mean, do my arm for me,” Anna explained, “I just feel like I'm not doing it right.”

Kristoff put his hand on the queen's elbow, incredulous that she could possibly need this much help. He pulled her arm back, then pushed it forward, showing the movement in slow motion. When she still didn’t appear to understand, he reached out again to flick her wrist. “Like this?” The pitch in his voice was higher than he'd meant it to be. He suddenly became aware of the renewed proximity between them. He started to understand where this game was going.

“Noooo,” Anna sang out the word and shook her head, “I think I need you to, I don't know, put your whole arm on mine or something.”

 _Okay,_ thought Kristoff, _If moving Anna's arm for her felt too intimate, then certainly putting my whole arm on hers would be far worse. How would I even manage that? I'd have to be standing behind her and reaching around and I'm sure she..._ he scrutinized her face. Anna was smiling up at him, her head tilted to the side and her eyes wide with innocence.

Oh.

A competitive side that Kristoff didn't even know he had in him welled up. Two could play at this game.

“Alright,” Kristoff smiled as he started to shuffle to position himself behind Anna. He could practically feel the waves of pride and wiliness emanating from the queen. 

_If intimacy is what she wants..._ He caught her right hand with his own and arranged it so that each of his fingers were cradling Anna's corresponding fingers and they were holding the smooth stone together. From behind her, he allowed his whole arm to wrap around Anna's and follow it up to her shoulder. It was a slightly awkward position, so he placed his left hand on her hip. _For balance,_ he rationalized. He leaned forward and brought his chin down to Anna's right shoulder and spoke a low whisper into her ear, “Is this what you mean?”

This was certainly uncharted territory.

He felt Anna tense beneath him and knew that a shiver had sparked down her spine. For a moment he was worried that it was too much with the position behind her and the arm around hers and the hand on her hip and the whisper in her ear. His grip was loose enough that she could easily step away on her own, and all she had to do was tell him to let go and he would. He waited for her to say so for several beats.

It was a surprise to him when Anna finally squeaked out her reply, “Yeah. This should help.”

_Really?_

“Okay,” Kristoff spoke softly, “Bend your knees.”

The queen obeyed.

Kristoff bit his own lip to remind himself not to do or say anything stupid. He heard the queen's breathing become rapid and was grateful for the reminder that he was not the only one who was nervous right now.

He pulled her arm back low and gently pressed it forward, showing her how to properly windup and release the stone. At the end of the motion, he leaned down into her ear once more and slowly whispered, clipping his words, “This is where you flick. your. wrist.” He showed her that motion too.

Anna nodded.

“Now,” Kristoff removed his hand from hers and lowered it to match his other hand on her waist. Together, they nearly encircled her completely. “I'll just hold you steady, and you just focus.” 

_Ha! Focus! What a joke._

Anna's attention was firmly NOT on skipping stones or anything of the sort.

“Focus,” Kristoff whispered, “On the spot on the lake where you want it to land. Just. Focus.” He punctuated the last two words with quick squeezes on Anna's waist.

Anna released the stone. It clattered at their feet.

From behind her, Kristoff had a difficult time reading the queen's body language. He let go of her waist as Anna spun around and stepped away from him. Her heels slipped on the rocks and Kristoff reached out to catch her hand before she fell. “Oh!” she called.

He pulled her back to standing and read panic in her eyes. 

Kristoff started to panic in his own mind too. _Too far?_ What if he'd misread her signals? Surely she had been flirting with him. Surely she had wanted him to hold her. Hadn't she even asked him to put his arms around her? Hasn't she been trying to get him to hold her for weeks?

Maybe not.

Maybe he had only been seeing the things he wanted to see. He braced himself for a royal scolding, but none came.

Anna gulped. She wiped sweaty palms on her dress. Kristoff stood fearfully before her waiting for their next move.

“Remember when I said that this time I was falling in love slowly?” Anna tugged at her left sleeve, avoiding eye contact with her companion.

How could he forget?

“Yes?”

Anna's eyes flew to Kristoff's. Her breath was shaky but her voice was firm, clear, and certain: “Slowly.”

It was an announcement in a single word.

Kristoff tried to hold back the grin that pulled the corners of his lips apart. “I can do slowly,” he said. 

He was grateful for slowly.

\---

This time, when he helped Anna back across the slippery rocks, he held her right hand in his own and had his left on the small of her back.

This time, when they walked back to meet Kjekk and Sven, he didn't pull away when she reached out to grab the crook of his arm.

This time, when he lifted her up on her horse, he gave not one, but two gentle, probing squeezes.

This time, after he squeezed, she reached down and placed her hand on his arm.

_Slowly._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so excited to have completed my first fic! Thank you for reading! I do have ideas to extend this story in the future, but for now I will mark it as complete. I hope you enjoyed! <3


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